I don't remember seeing Kendra on as one of Donald sidekicks before unless I missed it. Just thought if she hasn't been why not put Kendra or one of the other winners on the show with Carolyn since Bill has gotten his chance. Does anyone know if she is still working with Carolyn?

She is not working with Carolyn. She only worked with Carolyn for three months shortly after she won. Trump has repeatedly stated he hated the S3 cast and has never said except for Kendra. I think he picked Kendra because she was the best of that season but that Trump has stayed clear away from her. Kendra spends more time on her own business and I am not even sure if she is doing anything for the Trump organization. Trump hired a firm (not Kendra's) to sell that mansion. She was just a figurehead to help promote the Florida home Trump bought and renovated.

Thanks for the info Highlander.. how do you know all this anyway?

I am finally able to reply redlion due to the threads being disabled. As far as the three months working for Carolyn, Kendra said it in many of her interviews. Trump has stated many times he hated S3 cast. I also posted last season, that I met and spoke to Kendra in Las Vegas while on a business trip and she was working on her own business. I asked her if she will be a viceroy and I got the impression she will not.

I get the feeling that Carolyn's not really enjoying this season. She seemed to really like the cast of last season, and even joked with them during the tasks. But this season she seems joyless and bored. That's just the feeling I get.

Can't blame her for being bored (I know I am). Seeing the same type of idiots making the same type of mistakes every season has got to be getting old at this point.

I'm glad Carolyn refocused the debate to Theresa, since Trump was too busy admiring her saline and Bill not yet comfortable enough to do it as quickly and effectively.

Yeah, this is the biggest problem for me, too. Survivor works because every season new twists are thrown in to shake things up for both the players and viewers. TA doesn't do that and it has become stuck in probably the worst rut I have seen a show get into. Carolyn has always struck me as being the most easily identifiable person on TA, so I wouldn't be surprised if the malaise of the general viewer is reflected in her blank expressions, and weaker opinions. I could be wrong, of course, but I wonder if Ivanka is being brought in for five eps this season to gradually ease Carolyn out. If I were her, I would have asked to leave. I wonder if she has...

Oh I think Bill was too busy looking too!!!!

These eps were done months ago, how could Carolyn reflect viewers when they haven't seen the shows yet?

Some were even done before the last season's live finale. What could have happened?

Maybe she is just not too happy for being replaced by Trump's daughter... Before, she never used to go on "business trips." But she is an icon of the show, I don't think it will be so easy to "replace" her.

I don't mean that her reactions reflect specific viewers' reactions. I meant that she was thinking what several viewers are thinking now. The whole not as engaged, more detached, "I don't care as much as I used to" reaction.

I went to hear Carolyn speak at a lecture series in Reno tonight, and got to see her at the private VIP party.

She seemed very personable, and took pictures with almost everyone there. Her speech was entertaining, and she dished a bit on the behind-the-scenes action on the show.

Carolyn actually mentioned in the Q&A portion that Kendra was indeed still working on the mansion project, and also that Andy (Season 3? 4? I'm mixed up) is actually working for Trump as a result of his being on the show.

Overall it was a great evening, and my respect for her grew exponentially. BTW, her response to whether the employees talk about "the Hair": well, it's there isn't it?

Also, new poster, so Hello!

Welcome, jeplao! Thanks so much for the info. Andy's working for Trump? Good for him. I remember that DT seemed to like him a lot.

And from the past 2 times we've seen her, angry and slightly petty as well (the incessant focus on Tarek's putting green). Have we seen her smile at all?

The smirk she had on her face in tonight's boardroom was a big negative for me. She seemed thrilled at getting to talk people down and at seeing someone fired. If she is at the point where she hates the contestants to this degree, then maybe she should take a long break. Ivanka is more than qualified to replace her.

Yeah, as much as I've loved Carolyn on this show, at this point I wouldn't be sorry at all to see her step aside. I think she's been losing more and more of the objectivity that made her so incisive in S1, and it's turning her into a caricature of herself.

Having recently read (and been largely impressed with) her book, I'm really disappointed by her demeanor this season.

She can go, and take her smirks and her nasty comments with her. I don't think I 've really cared for her too much post-Season 1. She seems entirely too smitten with herself and too condescending toward the candidates. I never really understood the Carolyn love around here. IMO, she's really quite ordinary.

I didn't think she was all that bad in seasons 3 and 4. She just seems to have a bug up her ass this time around.

I think she's been like that from the very beginning of the show. The S1 women thought Carolyn really hated them. I thought so too. After having read her book, which I totally wasn't impressed with, I thought that she was simply competing with these contestants on some sub-conscious level - just to impress DT. I totally hate it when she goes straight for her victim's throat - this is so unfriendly, unkind, and, IMO, un-wise for an executive to do.

Carolyn is the kind of person who sees things her way, and that is the only way. If she disagrees with you, she will condescend to you, unless you are her social superior, in which case she will be diplomatic. I have no use for the woman at all, and I haven't liked her since I started watching the show in Season 2. Season 1, which I watched after the fact on DVD, she seemed better, and not nearly as annoying as she has become since, IMO.

For me, Carolyn is someone who is thrilled to have been given the opportunity to exercise some power. Who knows? She might get frustrated being at such close quarters with someone foolish like Trump being able to exercise a lot of power, and this is her revenge. Or maybe she is just an extremely insecure person, who takes pleasure in knocking other people down. In her book, I remember her saying that everyone in Season 1 (and maybe Season 2; I can't quite remember) was extremely accomplished in their personal lives off the show. But one would never know she felt that way from her onscreen behaviour. The only time she has shown humour on the show is when she is laughing at people. I would like to see her accomplish what these contestants have to. Methinks Little Miss Ice Princess wouldn't stand up too well to the kind of exposure candidates face each week on the show.

I think this is a large part of what's happened to her over the seasons--these people all have had impressive resumes, and they've come on this show and acted (with some exceptions) appallingly. When that happens over and over, it's bound to make you cynical--hence the sneers and condescension.

(And the S1 women are a good example of this--Carolyn tried to give them some advice about how they were acting in what I thought was a very tactful and supportive way; and they completely blew her off, complete with Amy, seemingly the most together of the group, making a stupid, immature comment. I can't imagine what Carolyn thought on seeing that scene in the completed episode after the fact.)

Carolyn, I know you might not care about being on the show anymore, but if you're going to be oncamera, at least brush your hair.

You know, Carolyn used to kick a lot of ass saying the things we wished Trump would say. (But he's too busy comparing sexual orientations to dinner items and asking contestants if they think other contestants are mean.) But this season, she just hasn't been on point with her commentary the way she used to be. She was always a bit condescending, but at least when she was dead-on it was palatable... and it was kind what I wanted to say to the contestants and how I wanted to say it. But she's off this season, yo. But not as much as George.

Maybe she's just growing more insecure. If you think about it, most if not all of the candidates these last few seasons have been self-made successes (oftentimes multi-millionaires). Many of them have advanced degrees from the most stellar academic institutions in the country. The show may have figured out a way to make them look bad, but for the most part nearly every one of these candidates is smarter and more successful than Carolyn. She has, at most, an undergraduate degree, probably from a very run-of-the-mill school. She's been under The Donald's thumb for what, 10 or more years now? Her main focus in life nowadays, it seems, is to appear on the TV show as the icy, nasty bitch, whose opinions Trump usually ignores anyway. Her real job managing the golf courses is probably handled by her underlings. She is seething with resentment because she is no longer the "golden girl" of Trump Land -- her life has been reduced to a parody of its former self.

ETA: typos are evil!

I disagree. People only feel insecure when there's a perceiveable direct threat to them, and Carolyn has been around longer and learned--and forgotten--more things about working for Donald Trump than these yahoos ever will, and both she and Donald Trump know that not one of them could replace her. Her comments have consistently been dead-on in the Boardroom this season, in my opinion; she has made no secret of the fact that she doesn't suffer fools gladly, and she's always had a bigger and better BS detector than Donald Trump.

Therefore, I seriously doubt that Carolyn is "competing" with any of these candidates on any level; I think that she's simply gotten tired of wading through the kindergarten politics and general thick-headedness from candidates who'd rather stonewall, make excuses, and blame everyone else in sight for their own shortcomings rather than take a little ownership and answer a direct question the first time it's put to them, instead of having to be asked three or four times before the truth finally gets dragged kicking and screaming out of them.

I concur, legaleagle. We also can't forget the impact the Editing Room Monkeys have on perceptions. Case in point: Felisha and Alla's memorable final boardroom last year. On the show Carolyn came off as cold and aloof. But, if you watched the Extended! Boardroom! Footage!, you saw a much kinder and gentler Carolyn than we got to see on the show. The ERMs pull only out the most "tv friendly" moments when they edit down the show.

I mean, after all, this is the same woman who tracked down Verna (wandering through the streets with her Pink Rolling Suitcase) after Verna's mental meltdown at the Hotel Task. And when she caught up to Verna, Carolyn walked along side her, gently asked how she was doing, talked her down, and drove her back to the hotel. So, yeah, Carolyn has a softer side to her, but ... in the big bad world of NY Business (and the reality show) we just don't get to see it very often.

Aw, damn! Now I miss Verna. I did enjoy Carolyn's edits then.

I will always love her telling Erin "THAT WAS A DUMB STATEMENT!"

I think Carolyn's less frequent appearences on the show are both her desire to do her real job and a way for Trump to show off Ivanka. I'd guess that Carolyn has had her fill of these lame ass contestants.

She has nothing to fear from any of these people, from T1 to present day, with the possible exception of a prison term for killing one of them for being too stupid to live.

BWAH! That is one of the funniest things I've read in this forum--but I doubt that there'd be a judge or jury on the planet who would convict her!

Remember last season when Carolyn kicked ass?

The Best of Carolyn Kepcher - Season 4.

Where the hell is she now?!?

I was always wondering – why is it so important to drag and kick the screaming truth out of a contestant? Why is this screaming truth so important? Why does it have to be screaming? These contestants aren’t stupid. The viewers aren’t stupid either. That said, wouldn’t it be enough just to ask a properly formulated question or statement without humiliating these contestants or making them “bleed” on national TV? Most of the time Carilyn's questioning feels cruel, and cruelty is always unnecessary and can never be justified… in my book. I appreciate her sharpness and directness (vs beating around the bush), but I just cannot bring myself to being her fan.

That's just the point, cuibono. Carolyn does ask properly formulated questions and make cogent statements regarding the candidates' behavior during the tasks. It's the candidates who force her to repeat herself three or four times before they give her an answer that even remotely answers the question or the statement. If the candidates would answer honestly and directly the first time and not hem and haw and act like spoiled kindergartners instead of the mature, intelligent, professional adults they're supposed to be, the truth wouldn't have to be "screaming," it wouldn't have to be dragged out of them, and they wouldn't have to be "humiliated" or "bleeding" on national TV. Carolyn already has two small children at home (ages 4 and 6 now, I believe)--she doesn't need to be putting up with eighteen more on the show.

The candidates get no sympathy from me when it comes to the way Carolyn deals with them in the boardroom. They bring it on themselves, in my opinion, and I am glad that Carolyn is forever vigilant in calling them out on their immature bullcrap.

If Carolyn actually served the role of calling people out on their crap, I might have less contempt for her this season. Instead, she seems to ignore most of the blatant bullshitting (like Lee's weaseling around in the boardroom) or focuses on her own petty issues. When Teresa brought Tarek and Lenny to the boardroom, Carolyn couldn't stop attacking Tarek for the putting green not being acceptable enough - for HER. Not for the guests, since the golfing portion was one of the only parts of the event which was a success, but for her, because how dare Tarek not live up to the expectations of she who runs a golf course when she isn't busy sneering at people on television.

The other embarrassing moment for her this season was the boardroom where Bryce was fired, because Bryce ran roughshod over all of them. Bryce knew he was being fired, and he was a pompous ass anyway, but both Carolyn and Bill came across as nothing more than mindless lackeys. In the past, Carolyn was there to support Trump, but part of her was also on the side of the audience, and she seemed to have her own presence. Carolyn's permanent sneersmirk lowered her to the level of a power-mad hall monitor. I was shocked at how utterly irrelevant she was (I wasn't as shocked with Bill), and how small she looked, whether that was the intention of Bryce or the editors or not.

Maybe it's the editing, but she has also been shown up by Ivanka. Ivanka handled the Brent boardroom in episode four with much more intelligence and poise than anything Carolyn has done in years.

IIRC, though, from what we saw, Tarek never actually answered her in any way except to sort of nod. It was a shitty-looking putting green, but all he had to say was (i) Theresa refused to pony up the money for AstroTurf; and (ii) the dealers had fun anyway.

I agree with legaleagle44 that this sort of thing is a big part of why Carolyn's getting so snarly. She asks a legitimate question, and I think if the Wannabe defended him/herself in a rational manner and didn't instantly deny responsibility and attack someone else on an unrelated tangent, I'm pretty sure Carolyn would be basically, like "Fine."

The same thing happened with the giveaway bags in episode one--she did come off as a little petty IMO bringing up Tarek's misuse of the phrase "gift bag," but we didn't see Tarek stand up to her at all, by explaining he meant "giveaway," the bags were not promoted as "gift bags" to the customers, and most importantly, the customers seemed to think they were cool (there was a clip of at least one woman saying she liked it).

I don't think the comparison to Ivanka is really fair, since Ivanka's only done, what, two episodes, and she hasn't really had to deal with much of the Wannabes' idiocy yet. It'll be interesting to see how Ivanka is after she's had her name mispronounced, and had candidates raise their voices at her and direct answers to questions she's asked to the men at the Boardroom table instead of to her.

With a name like 'Ivanka', she's probably had to deal with her name being mispronounced. She seems to be very even-handed in the boardroom, whereas Carolyn is more smug and judgmental, which helps provoke the people who yell at Carolyn.

Aside from some assorted bickering, I don't think any of the contestants this season have done enough to warrant Carolyn's constant attitude and smirking. She seems to see them all as one big mass glob of meh, and she constantly takes Trump's side. I don't know what purpose she serves now. If she's tired of the job - and if she is then no wonder - I think she should leave, if she can leave. For me she has been one of the worst parts of this season, which is far from how I used to feel about her.

I've got to admit that I was really glad to see and hear Carolyn today. Up until now I thought I wasn't her fan at all, but this lady does bring something special to the table. I guess Ivanka will be like Carolyn one day or even better...

You can tell that she doesn't like Lee all that much because of the way she got onto him in the boardroom. Where the hell is George, too?

Carolyn wasn't as nastily (and pointlessly) snarky this week, so I enjoyed her appearance.

Could she be dialing back because she fears that Donald prefers the cooler mien of his daughter?

God, never thought I'd say this, but I prefer Ivanka to Carolyn. Mostly because Carolyn these days carries the distinct unpleasant whiff of someone who wants to be Anywhere but Here. She looks bored out of her mind on the tasks, and then in the Boardroom she seems to take out her boredom/frustration at her job on the contestants, shrilly harping them for stupid shit. So unlike the cool, sharp-as-a-whip Carolyn that we saw in the previous seasons, back when she seemed genuinely invested in picking the best Apprentice for Trump. These days she's totally checked out, except unlike George she's still there, pretending to be interested, when she's not. She's no longer insightful, she's just unpleasant. Most of the booted contestants have said that Carolyn's actually nice and personable outside the show, and I think her unpleasantness stems from hating her job. Time for Carolyn to go back to the golf course.

I'm really tired of Carolyn. For the past season or two, she's mostly seemed like a petty jerk. She's got Judge Judy syndrome. She's decides who's wrong right away, and pounces on them about everything (even stuff they're right about), and ignores all evidence to the contrary.

Shocking as I am to admit it, I'd rather see Ivanka full-time in her place.

I thought it was very rude and unprofessional of her to laugh at Pepi just because Lee chose him for the team. Ivanka never would have done that.

It's further proof that she has just checked out this season. I hope Ivanka is one of the final judges - she's approached this competition with a much more professional attitude.

I think even setting aside the propriety of it, it makes both Carolyn and Trump look horrendously stupid to not remember someone from a few weeks before. Do they forget their employees? They have certainly forgotten any sense of decorum or class. But it pleases me because I had Carolyn pegged three seasons ago. I like being proven right about people.